Are we Pods, Sheds, eco-lodges or Summerhouses?

This blogpost came to me today whilst researching key words for the website.  I’m not sure how, but this past year I’ve managed to miss the staggering array of ambiguous descriptions there are out there for garden buildings; and indeed, how our outdoor buildings are defined – in particular, the grey areas where say a “shed’ becomes a “pavilion”! Today I came across the most well-used terms: lodge, hut (irritatingly the Rotunda has indeed been referred to as a “hut” by several individuals and I have not yet found it within myself to forgive this), garden house,  eco-lodges, garden-pod, garden cabin, cabins (in general), garden offices, barns, garden-studios, summerhouse (what about winterhouse? Why has no-one coined this one?! That’s a better description for a real garden room), pavilion and… yes, (the ubiquitous) pod. Only very recently, to my horror, did I discover a product described as a ‘solid yurt’ constructed by a British shed company.  This, incidentally, was absolutely not a yurt (it was an octagonal shed); yurts are and always have been circular.    To those of us who are deeply passionate and somewhat obsessive about circular buildings and their history,  it’s nothing short of building blasphemy! It’s just wonderful to see the imagination and passion which is now infiltrating the garden buildings industry and the humble shed has given rise to features on George Clarks Amazing Spaces and awards on “Shedworking”.    Eco-Lodges and Log-Cabins are now straddling the domestic homeowners market and luxury british holiday destinations and of course Yurts and bell tents are still at the forefront of the Glamping Scene (although they’re popping up in UK gardens all over the place at the moment as therapy rooms, outdoor classrooms and meditation spaces!) Of course, there is only one garden building called the “Rotunda” (which incidentally, is exactly what it is) and of that we’re immensely proud.